Manipulation (Shadows) (9 page)

The feeling of being watched pinpricks its way up my spine and I shake it off to get ready for bed—suddenly way more things on my mind than I’m ready for.

FOURTEEN

Dean

Really, most of my work for school is done. The past few days have been a haze of trying to get everything turned in before graduation. I’m trying not to think about Addie every moment of the day and avoiding any kind of deep conversation with Katy. I don’t know what to tell her about Addie yet, and she’ll definitely want to know.

It’s our last Life Skills class today. I’m disappointed and relieved. Relieved that it’s over, but disappointed that I’ve
lost the easy excuse to see Addison
. I jog up the steps and into the classroom, but she’s not here yet. And I realize how much I’m anticipating seeing her when my chest hits the floor at her absence.

Just as the teacher stands up, Addie walks in. She flashes me a smile and takes the seat next to me. Our teacher is rambling on today about financial responsibility. She’s at the chalkboard, writing out a check register. I want to point out that no one really uses checks anymore, but keep my mouth shut. As I glance around the room, most everyone is nodding off or doodling on their papers.

“Sst.”

My head snaps to Addie. She’s holding out her hand for me take. Man, should it affect me this way? My chest constricts and I take a deep breath before taking her hand in mine.

We still on for later?
she asks.

I am if you are.

Don’t take advantage of me.
She tries to give me this stern look but it only makes her cuter. Her tiny little brows trying to furrow together…

Promise.
I give her a squeeze.

Okay.

Okay. Should we see about getting out of here early?
I ask.

It might not work on her again.

But it might…
I raise a brow.

She nods, a smile moving across her lips.

I stare at the teacher just like I did the first day.
Let’s dismiss our last class early. You’ve all been great. I’ll check you as complete after you go.

And miracle of miracles, it works. I flash a smile at Addie but she looks shocked and a chill runs through me, hits me like a wall of ice.

“Man.” I rub my hands up and down my arms a few times. Then I realize Addie’s doing the same thing.

Must be cold in here.

* * *

“Dean.” She looks at me very pointedly as we ride in the back of the car together.

“Yes, Addie.” I smile, crossing my arms because she’s so obviously freaking out about this.

“Don’t judge me, okay?”

I laugh. “It can’t be that bad.”

“It can. And if anyone’s there, it’s not a big deal. No one’s ever set up rules for boys or anything like that and Mom and Dad are like, never home, so…”

“Okay.” I’m trying to be cool with this, but I don’t want to even think about the possibility of meeting her parents.

“And we’re picking up Ellie.”

“I get to meet your sister?” I know Addie well enough to know this is a big deal.

“If that’s okay. Deb never wants to come with me, and I hated being picked up by just the driver when I was her age. She stayed late today for a violin thing or something.”

“Thanks, Addie.” I wish we were at the point where I could take her into my arms and kiss her cheek on the ride to her sister’s school. But we’re not. So I don’t. I just may think about it a few times on the ride over.

* * *

“You’re Dean.” Ellie smiles as she climbs into the car. Addie striking features are smoother on her sister whose a little rounder and whose hair is a regular brown instead of the almost-black that Addison has.

“Nice to meet you, Ellie.” I reach across Addie’s lap to shake her sister’s hand.

“So, what are you two up to?” Ellie leans forward in her seat so she can see me.

I suddenly feel like I’m being interrogated, or going through the app
roval process of an eleven-year-
old, which is a bit more terrifying than it sounds.

“Your sister is returning a favor.”

Addie’s eyes catch mine.

“What favor is that?” Ellie folds her arms and an eyebrow shoots up.

“She asked to see my house, so I took her, and now I’m going to your house.”

“Oh.” Ellie’s arms relax. “Cool.”

“Promise you won’t judge, right?” Addison points at me.

I take her hand in mine.
Promise.
She is really freaked out about me seeing where she lives. Funny. Guess I was the same way.

And as we step out of the car, I see why. I suck in a breath as I look up. The windows on the face of the building seem to disappear into the sky. The apartment door is opened for us by a man in uniform. I know it’s becoming more common than not, but it’s still weird. He greets the girls and gives me a smile. Guess I’m okay, since I’m with them.

“You probably don’t take the stairs, do you?” I chuckle.

“Uh…no.” Addie laughs, shaking her head.

I stop at the elevator.

“Not that one.” Ellie shakes her head. “Around the corner.”

Addison’s looking down, but catches glances my direction a few times. “You don’t have an elevator thing, do you? I mean, you don’t avoid yours on purpose?”

“How small is it?” I tease.

“It’s fine.”

We step in and she’s right. It is fine
even though I’m not a fan of small spaces
. Except every time Addison and I are in tight quarters, something like electricity buzzes through me and draws me toward her. We both stand with our backs against the wall, but don’t break eye contact once. It’s not even a possibility when we’re in this small of a space. I wish we were at a point where I could touch her without her freaking out, because there are a lot of places I’d like to touch.

“This is it.” Ellie sighs as she steps out in front of us.

We’re in a foyer type room with pale marble floors and walls. There’s the elevator door and two other doors on this level. Two. Only two people live on this level.
Holy Shit.
Where am I? Probably should have paid attention to the floors on my way up.

Addie walks to the door and opens it for us. “Come on in.”

“Oh, girls, I’m heading out.” A forty-something woman with dark brown hair steps out of the apartment, a large purse under an arm.

“See you, Marla.” Addie waves.

Marla looks me up and down, and her mouth pulls into a thin line.

“I’m Dean.”

“Oh, sorry.” Addie scrunches her eyes tight. “Marla, this is Dean. From…school.”

Marla’s face relaxes. “Nice to meet you, Dean.”

“You, too.” I have no idea who Marla is. Not their Mom. Help? Do they really have help?

Ellie widens her eyes at Addie and then glances at Marla.

Addison steps over to Marla to give her an awkward sideways hug. “Thanks for my laundry.”

Marla shakes her head as she brushes Addie off and steps into the elevator.

“Thanks.” Ellie grins.

“You owe me.” Addie tugs her sister’s ponytail as she opens the door.

I’m not about to ask what Addie just requested of Marla on Ellie’s behalf. Probably just planted an idea that she’s hoping will stick.

The apartment is very much what I’d expect from the building and the ride up in the elevator. It looks more like a model showroom than somewhere people live. “Do you use this room?” I ask. Everything’s black and white and looks like it’s never touched.

Addie shakes her head. “Not much.”

“I feel like I should have gotten cleaner somehow before coming here.” I look down at my stained jeans and tennis shoes.

Ellie giggles and shakes her head. “I’ll be in my room. You two want to be alone, but when you get a chance, I found some cool stuff.”

“It was really nice to meet you, Ellie,” I say not having any idea what “cool stuff” means.

“You too, Dean. Stay as long as you want. If Marla’s gone, that means Mom and Dad have called to say they’re running late, and she took off for some free time.”

Is Ellie telling me I’m okay? And does she always act so grown-up?

Ellie, and all her adult attitude disappears down a hallway to my right. The living room sprawls out in front of me in creamy white and black and windows that are floor to ceiling views of New York City. There’s a hallway to the left and a wide open door I can see a kitchen through.

“So, I’m guessing three or four of my apartments would fit in here.”

“Probably seven or eight. You haven’t seen most of the place yet,” Addie says. Her expression and voice are suddenly impossible for me to read.

“Right.” I let out a breath. It’s honestly a bit overwhelming. Which, it shouldn’t be. It’s just a house.

FIFTEEN

Addison

“Being around you can be so intense.” I cringe because that was supposed to a thought, not an out-loud thing.

Dean’s standing just inside the door, like me, maybe a little unsure of where he should be.

“Is that good?” He cocks his head to the side and smiles his white smile.

“I don’t know.” I shake out my arms. “Can I just say something really honest?”

“Sure.” His gaze is too intense again.

“I just… I need this to feel fun. Can we do that?”
Because my chest is tight around you in such a good way, and I’m just not ready to go there again. Not yet.

“What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. You can tease me about how ridiculous it is that four people who spend almost no time at home live in a place that looks like it’s not actually lived in.” Will this work? Will Dean be able to lose some of that intense feel I always get from him?

“And could I also say your sister is awesome, and I’m completely jealous you have her around?”

“Too intense.” I shake my head, smiling.

“Well, Addie, show me your pad and I’ll try to make fun of you.” His relaxed smile is back. At least his pretend one is. That’s good enough for me.

“Okay.” I feel my shoulders relax, but the tension between us is still there, pulling me toward him in a way I don’t really understand. Aside from being angry at him and at myself, Chase is all but forgotten in a few days of Dean fog.

I start toward the kitchen. It’s hysterical to me, considering even Marla and the cook don’t use it much. Ellie and I order takeout most nights. “So, you know, it’s just a matter of time before we tell each other everything anyway, right?” I look over my shoulder.

“What?” Dean is a close step behind me.

“I mean, every time I bump into you, I can make you tell me something and you can do the same.”

“So?”

I stop suddenly to make him bump into me.
How do you feel about me?
I ask.

“I like you, a lot. But I also feel something that I’ve never felt before and I don’t know that I really understand that,” he answers.

“See?” I put my hands on my hips. “It’s all going to come out, Dean. I made you tell me.” I strain to keep my voice light even though I’m wondering how much I’ll tell Dean without meaning to.

“I heard your thought coming in, Addie, and I
wanted
to answer you.”

Crap, his intense eyes are back. I can’t really call him on it since it was my fault.

“Fine. So I can’t actually make you do or say anything but you can to me, which puts me at a tota
lly unfair disadvantage.” Which completely sucks.

Dean’s looking around the kitchen. The cabinets are all white, but supposed to look antiqued or something. Dad hates them, says they look perpetually dirty. I have to agree. Mom loves it. She thinks it makes our kitchen look “real.”

“Does anyone actually use this?” His teasing voice is back.

“I’ll get you a glass of water, how would that be?”

“Will you wear out the faucet?” He’s teasing again. I need it.

“Depends on how much you plan on drinking.”

He laughs and leans against the counter.

I get us two glasses of water, only I use the filtered water from the fridge, earning me a suppressed smile from Dean.

“My room?” I ask.

What will you do with me there?
Dean touches me on
the shoulder
.

“Pry you for information.” But it just comes out, like I don’t have a choice, and I jerk my hand away. “Don’t
do
that.” How will I ever be able to touch him?

“If you can feel it, why don’t you just stop yourself from answering?”

“I can’t help it.”
Because I’m apparently
weak
and pathetic
.

He looks down. “I’m sorry, Addie. I was just having fun. I can stop your thoughts to me, I guess I just felt like you could do the same.”

Our eyes meet and I step closer without thinking much about it. I glance down at his lips. Oh… Can’t go there yet. I spin around.

“I can’t read your thoughts, if that helps any.” But his eyes are looking through me and that feels like the same thing.

“Follow me.” I start toward my room.

“Wow, the view.” He stops at the end of the hallway next to my door.

“It’s just as good from in here.” I step in.

“You can’t wait to get me in your room, can you?” He chuckles, but it comes out a bit forced, like he’s trying too hard.

“I mostly live in here, Dean. Get over yourself.”

He flicks his head back and the hair out of his face and steps into my room. It feels so much more significant having him in here than Chase. What’s different?

“Addie.” He’s smiling and looking around my room. “This is awesome. Why did you think I’d judge you for this?”

“It’s just a lot.” My room is almost bigger than his apartment.

“It is. But it’s all you. You did this, didn’t you? Put this room together?”

“I did.” I am proud of my room. The black touches, soft grey walls, many shades of purples in the drapes, my couch, my bed. I love it.

“So, about us eventually knowing everything. Let’s just get it all out in the open then. I don’t want to feel like I have to watch my back around you and wondering if you’re messing with me.” His teasing voice makes me smile.

“First off, I don’t think I can mess with you.” And I wonder if there will ever be a time when that isn’t really annoying.

“Trust me, you can mess with me.” His voice is low and his eyes are intense again. But after our eyes lock for a moment, he looks down. Forward, and then shy. I’m starting to like this about him.

“So, we just talk?” Seems easy enough only I know it won’t be that easy. I’m both intrigued and afraid. I want to know more about Dean, but do I want to open myself up to the same amount of exposure?

“Are you afraid?” His mischievous grin is back.

“I’m not afraid of anything.”
Everything
.

“Really?” His brows go up.

Gah, he can be so freaking frustrating. Annoying. Irritating. The nervous energy builds. “Why am I hanging out with you?”

“Cause I’m damn near irresistible.” He winks. Winks!

“Oh, right.” I smirk and sit back in my chair. He takes the couch. And for a moment, just a moment, I wish we were sitting on the couch together, accidentally brushing our legs against one another, or arms, maybe our fingers would touch, maybe he’d take my hand. But neither of us will let that happen. There’s too much to be afraid of from the other. I went from jumpy nerves of anticipation to maybe a bit of sadness of how easy things could have been between us if we didn’t share this thing we do.

A knock at the door is followed by Ellie. “If you two aren’t kissing, can I come in?”

“We’re not kissing!” My voice is shrill and weird and my cheeks, I’m sure, are flaming.

Ellie steps in, laptop open and carefully resting between her hands. “So. Do you want to see what I found?”

“Sure,” I say as I scoot onto the couch, keeping Ellie between Dean and I.

“So, I’ve been trying to figure out what made you different, and kept thinking it was just a fluke, but since you found Dean and you two can sort of do the same thing, I started researching again.” When she gets all official sounding like this, it makes me want to pinch her cheeks or tickle her, just to make sure my little sister’s still in there.

I glance at Dean over the top of my sister, and he meets my gaze with a smile that curls my toes.

“I think it’s just all energy, and you two have come up with a way to manipulate the energy of other people in a completely specific way. That can’t be random like Addie keeps telling me.” Ellie’s voice is so authoritative, and I love that she’s using it in front of Dean.

Ellie clicks on a different page in her browser. “See here? This talks about our auras and the energy that everyone has. I think you two work sort of using that, and my guess is that you don’t even have to touch, just be inside that layer of energy around people.”

I try to look at Dean over Ellie again, but he’s staring at her computer.

“I don’t feel like I understand energy,” Dean says.

“Right?” Ellie grins. “I think that’s what’s so cool about it. You two do this sort of amazing thing and you don’t even know how it works.”

“It’s not that amazing.” I shake my head.

“Bet Marla does my laundry as well as yours tomorrow.” Ellie smirks. “Because even though what you do doesn’t last all that long. The power of planting a positive thought goes a long way.”

“Maybe.” I sigh, wondering how long Ellie plans to tell us about our “gift”. And then I wonder why I want her to leave when I was so glad she popped in.

“Don’t you two figure there has to be a lot of people like you out there? I mean, you can’t be the only two with talents.” She shakes her head. “And then I found this.”

The computer screen changes again.

Seeker

Insight

Manipulation

Shield

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“I got to researching energy and talents and gifts and kept putting the words up in a different order for searches to get different results. This is that same old legend out of The Bahamas I ran into a year ago. Some woman gave up her magic and divided her talents to keep some kind of evil away, and then the talents got passed down.”

A chill runs down my spine because I’ve never felt like my gift was a part of anything bigger than me.

“The freaky part is the evil shadows…” Ellie trails off as she makes a few more clicks, and now we’re a black blog with skulls that looks like a psychopath designed it.

“What do you mean?” Dean asks.

“So, there’s these shadows who want the powers, and this guy seriously dedicates a lot of time as to why.
He’s been searching for some guy named Tevin who is supposed to be an expert, so there are always some threads about this Tevin person.

“
There are
also
some people who think that these shadow people are harmful, and some that think they need help. I swear, that’s almost all this guy talks about on here.” Ellie scrolls down but I get another shiver.

Am I not going crazy and the movement in the shadows is real? In my house?

“But not just online,” Ellie says. “I saw this picture of a girl with this massive burn that was written up as being from the shadow people. The other day, I had—”

Ellie’s phone rings and she glances down at the screen. “Gotta take it.” She sets her laptop down on my coffee table and flits out of the room.

“So.” Dean stares at her computer. “That was interesting.”

My gut’s seizing up and I swear my ribs just shrunk. I do not want to know any of this. “Ellie’s into it. Part of me doesn’t want to know. What I do serves me well, and that’s enough.” And thinking about where it came from or who else might do what I do makes me feel small. I hate feeling small. And then I narrow my eyes and look slowly around my room for any sign of movement. Halfway around, I start feeling silly, which is enough motivation for me to stop. My eyes are tricking me because of stress, and my sister’s found some whack job with a skulled-up website. That’s all.

I start to flip the laptop closed not wanting to hear any more about shadows, but Dean points.

“This is cool, though.” His finger touches the screen. “I wonder if it’s real? Can you imagine being able to make yourself disappear?” He points at Shield. “Or seeing into the future?” His finger rests over Insight this time. “And I bet if we went back to that blog and researched, I wouldn’t sleep for a week.”

“Crazy.” I lean back. “So, this isn’t exactly what I planned to do today.”

“What did you plan?” Dean’s smiles a little and scoots closer, like he’s teasing about making a move, but would also probably be okay with me letting him.

“Nice try.” I hold my hand up between us. “I don’t know. A repeat of your house, I guess.”

Another knock at my door is followed by Ellie. “Just got word from Marla that Dad’s on his way home.”

“I’m guessing that ends our evening?” Dean asks.

Sadness tugs at my chest because I don’t want our day to be over, but I also don’t want Ellie trying to feed me any more info. Right now I wish for ignorance. “Yeah. I guess so.”

I hand the laptop to Ellie who jogs off to her room.

When Dean stands up I feel like there are a million things flashing behind his eyes that I want to learn more about—I’m just not sure how to start.